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Director Tom Davey comments on the landmark BT class action in Business Matters Magazine

With BT facing a £1.3bn class action over allegations it “disproportionately overcharged” landline customers, Director Tom Davey comments on how this landmark case may set precedent for future opt-out competition claims.

Tom’s comments were published in Business Matters Magazine, 29 January 2024, and can be found here.

“Hot on the heels of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, we are once again seeing ordinary people having to rely on the Courts, rather than regulators, to bring about the correction of injustices.

“The lack of effective regulation means that claimants have to litigate in order to bring about change and hold large corporates to account. Opt-out claims such as this are a cost-efficient way to bring about access to justice for individuals who’d have no hope otherwise for their claim to be heard.

“As the first stand-alone opt-out claim to proceed to trial, litigation funders and the wider legal industry will be watching the case keenly. The outcome will be instructive to the direction of the class action regime going forward, which is of particular importance in the context of other claims brought by consumers where breaches of competition law are alleged.

“The involvement of the CMA is not unusual, however it does come at a time when the government has expressed its wish to undo the controversial PACCAR judgment in light of public interest in the Post Office scandal. It certainly seems that the plight of consumers has risen up the political agenda this election year.”